FD 3: Life Is A Game
by lostchild277
Summary: Their odds are shortening. Some of them are still alive, though they weren't meant to, and death is not willing to let them escape one more time. The 2nd part of my fic that was never meant to be written.
1. Prologue

_*DISCLAIMER: Unfortunately I _still_ do not own _FD_, nor any of its characters, so please - Mr Glen Morgan & Mr James Wong - _still_ don't sue me, for I _still_ have no money. But I agree with Kazuha-chan in that DS-point, lol_

_Okay, I really never wanted to write that one, for it all was meant to be included in my first story, _Control_, but then I decided, that it was better to put it that way, for my actual theory wouldn't work there. Due to some 'literary' and logical problems, it could be possible that some things have to be changed in retrospect, e.g. some dates, as well as there will be some characters that already should've been dead for a long time, but isn't that what it's all about? (laughs at her sad joke). Further it could last a bit, to upload the first parts, for – though they are already written – I have to wait until I can upload the end of _Control_. Question of tension, u know? Anyway, I hope to be able to give a more polished structure to this fic.*_

_Prologue _

_The lurid master was still furious over the loss of his souls. Incapable of defence, he had to see so much more of them leaving their dark home, through the ages, and he had been given only a few of the light in return. Whatever he did, the light always seemed to be one step ahead and after all these times of humiliation, it was enough; he had to find a way out, a solution for this. The lord would gather his army built of death and decay, terror and desperation would be his weapons. He would find out the secret of light's power. And this time he wouldn't fail to destroy it. _

Shakespeare has once said that the world was a stage and all of us only actors. We play there for a while, but we cannot choose our role. It's given to us and we can only try to make the best out of it. No one ever asked us whether we wanted to have life in general, we are just thrown into this world. So why should we have to ask someone for the permission to leave it?

The wind blew through the nightly streets. It was a warm late summer wind, gently scurrying through people's hair and clothes, swelling the curtains behind opened windows, letting them appear like flags flying. In the dark deserted side-alleys it rushed more wildly, throwing around dirty old card boxes and plastic bags filled with garbage, just to return into the streets again, underlining the playful of his actions. The city dwellers appreciated the breeze for it had been quite hot during the last days. Only a few of them noticed the slight fury it was accompanied by. 

It was late at night as the telephone rang. The sound of the bell floated through the darkness of a New York apartment. Always joined by new rings, it fought its way up to the single source of light, coming from a candle on a table, hardly lightning up some square metres. The silhouette of a man stood up against the easy chair her sat in. Gradually he turned back from the world of his mind and stretched out a hand to pick up the mobile part of his phone that was buried under a pile of files and magazines. He didn't bother to glance at the blue illuminated display, as he pressed the green button to receive the call. 

"Hello?"

There was along silence. He could hear someone breathing. During the last years he had developed a sensitive feel for certain situations and therefore didn't spend one thought on a misdial or some lunatic or pervert. "Tell me", he asked the person on the other end. 

"It's back." The young man's voice was calm and cool and only someone who knew him very well would've heard a difference. The man in the New York apartment sighed quietly and closed his eyes for a moment. 

The other one snorted. "_Groundhog Day, until we do it right." He gave a sad, short laugh, and it took a while before he continued. A click was heard, like a glass being put down on a glass table. "She drowned. Some fucking lake she went to with some friends. Midnight swimming. Fucking stupid idea." The man took a deep breath. "The paramedics said it must have been a cramp or stuff – shit, what the hell do they know?!"_

"Who-" the first one began, but he was interrupted.

"She is dead. Liz is dead."

"I'll be with you in twenty minutes, okay?"

"I'm tired, man", the second one sighed. "I'm so tired of it. It's so boring."

"Don't do anything till I'm there okay? Promise me", but the line had already been disconnected. 

****

The dark-haired lounged back in his armchair and put down his glass. An opened bottle was standing beside him. It was almost completely filled, maybe somebody would empty it. Sometime. He poured in a bit more of the golden brown liquid and let it circle in the glass, but then put it down again, without having drunk of it. Nobody should think he'd had to give himself Dutch courage. It just had become kind of a habit. Billy was a fanatic for sweets, Tod would do anything for crisps – at least Alex had claimed that recently – and himself and JD were just inseparable, too. 

He reached out for the weapon, lying beside him on the table. His dad had bought it so many years ago – after all, all of his friends had one at home, it was just part of a complete household nowadays – and since that time it had lain unused in the upper bookcase, behind the Shakespeare's edition bound in calf. As yet.

A little astonished by the fact that his hand did not shake at all, he released the safety catch of the automatic. But after all there was nothing he had to be afraid of. It would be over so soon. Like snapping one's fingers. 

There was no letter or something like that, what should he have written? Mawkishness had never really been his thing and he didn't feel any desire to inform anybody of anything. There was no rage, no regret, no desperation. Nothing. 

A soft smile glided across his face. Maybe he would see them. Maybe. 

With the left hand he reached for the remote control of the system. The last accord of 'Last resort' had died away and so he turned it off. Silence returned into the huge room. Through the opened windows he heard some birds singing. To a despiser of any romanticism this seemed to be a quite corny scenario. But for the first time in his life he did not care. Finally it did not make a difference what others thought of him, any longer.

Slowly he raised the barrel onto his temple and pressed the trigger. 

****

The young man closed the door behind him and put the duplicate key into the pocket of his jacket. "Carter?" He turned one of the lights on and crossed the big loft. His eyes glanced over a silk kimono that was lying on one side of the couch. It was still new but no one would come back to wear it. He swallowed the feelings he had tried to suppress all the way as he had raced though the streets, constantly exceeding the speed limit. "Carter. Hey!!" Alex voice got an impatient undertone.  Something told him to turn the right corner, where he knew there were seats and one had an unbelievable view over the city. Definitely the best place to be when – He touched the young man by the shoulder, but he remained sitting motionless. His head was lying at the backrest of the easy chair, his eyes closed. For a moment Alex looked at him wordless, only his jaw muscles moving as he clenched his teeth. Finally he bet down beside the easy chair to pick up the object that seemed to have slid out of Carter's hand. On the ground a dark stain had been formed. It would be hard to remove. There was more of the same dark liquid on the windows in front of him. But that wasn't the main problem right now. Involuntarily Alex threw a glance at the digital display of the stereo system. 2:59 am. He snorted. What an irony. _What an irony. This time Carter really had exaggerated it. His hand brushed against his friend's; it was icy-cold. Feeling the muscles of his legs becoming cramped, he stood up and reached for a blanket, lying folded up on the sofa. He stared at Carter for a few more minutes, before he spread it out over him. Then he turned away and put up the receiver. _

_*Sweet dreams.*_


	2. Chapter 1

_*Thanx to DHARKE for my first review. Well, that lurid master …. uhm don't care, okay? Like many things he was meant to play a bigger role in them fics but right now I'm not so sure whether I really wanna do that. Please be patient with me, guys, okay?*_

Chapter 1

"Still up?" 

Agent Schreck walked along one of the countless passages of the huge building, then took some steps back, deciding to enter the small office he had just passed by. He watched the dirty blond in front of him putting another spoonful of instant coffee into a big cup. 

"Please tell me that this time there's water in it? Doesn't have to be hot, but _water_." 

The young man looked up from his sheets and files, trying to find the meanings of the word he had only half listened to, then smirked and held up a big bottle of Coke that was standing under his desk. Schreck's face twisted with disgust. "This is nauseating. Believe me, one day it's gonna kill you. You'll get a heart attack from all the caffeine."

"Oh, killed by coffee – guess we didn't have that before." 

The older agent slowly nodded, knowing what he was alluding to, but even after all those years still unable to joke about it that carefree. Well, he was sure that the boy wasn't that carefree as well. "What are you doing? It's like –" he glanced at his watch, "past 1 am."

"You're still here, too", the blond answered, typing something into his notebook. 

"Yeah, but I'm _on my way home."_

A smile appeared on the young man's face as he nodded, but in Schreck's eyes it disappeared a bit too soon, as he turned back to his computer screen. 

"You sure you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine, dad." 

Schreck frowned at the allusion to the age difference between them. "I'm not _that much older than you, you know", he pointed. _

"Uh huh", the other one grinned. 

Schreck watched him as he was waiting for some new page to open. He could remember vividly the first time he had met Alex Browning. He was suspected of having killed 151 passengers on that famous 180 flight, since nobody believed him that he had a premonition and that the reason he got 7 people, including himself, off the plane and people thought that it hadn't been for any supernatural power, but for his guilty conscience. Schreck and his colleague Weine had been entrusted with the investigation. A sixteen year old boy, average kid, never got himself noticed in any way. From his long working experience Weine could tell that often those were the worst of all, but something had told Schreck that Alex hadn't done anything wrong as far as the crash was concerned. Actually he had been a bit scared. Scared of that boy who had just sat there, letting examination after examination wash over him, knowing that none of that was of any use. Thinking about it that had been what had worried him most. That he _knew it, had knowledge of things Schreck never had wanted really to even think about.  If death really came for you, it would get you, that was the way he had been educated. There was no chance in escaping. But Alex had desperately tried to. And after all him and two of his friends had managed to. But they had paid a high price and they were still paying it. It had been after them once more, a few years ago and still those three had been able to survive, though Alex didn't have his premonitions this time. As if they had somehow got lost on the way.  Schreck couldn't tell whether it was a bless or a curse. He didn't know much about that 'last time' for he couldn't induce Alex to tell him about it. _

Schreck still couldn't believe that Alex was now working with him. It had been himself, Schreck, who had been sent to offer him the possibility to become an FBI agent, because someone was obviously of the opinion that he somehow was on good terms with him and further, that Alex had the correspondent qualifications for this job. It rarely happened that someone with his background even became a candidate. He still could see the disbelieving look when he asked him. There were loads of people who would've done nearly anything to become an FBI agent, but in this case he had done a hard job on _convincing_ someone to _think about the whole thing at all. Since Alex had been quite bored of his job in a computer company, he had decided to give it a try. And as far as Schreck was able to judge it, it had been the best for him; a firm task was exactly what he had needed at that time. Something to concentrate on that would distract him from all those ideas of a predetermined fate, Death's design and all of those things Weine had considered to be bullshit. Though even him had finally realised that Alex Browning wasn't the serial killer he had thought him to be, he still wasn't willing to believe in something supernatural and since the possible existence of a power so dark and destroying scared Schreck more than he wanted to admit to himself, he had tried to talk himself into agreeing with his colleague and friend. He didn't succeed._

Only after a short time Alex had become one of the best in his new job, 'something between a profiler and a clairvoyant' as Weine liked to call it. He was simply able to _sense things. Spending only ten minutes at the scene of a crime sometimes could be enough for him to tell whether a crime had taken place or just a simple accident or a suicide. Since his fiancée had gone to the Boston Arts Academy to take part in a conference that was lasting several weeks, he was working more and longer than all of them. Schreck knew that he tried to escape the constant fear that he felt whenever they were separated from each other, but after all one couldn't spend his whole life at one place or always together just because there was the _possibility_ that something could _happen_. And he personally thought that the thing he didn't want to think about, was over. At least he hoped so. _

"Didn't you want to go?" a voice broke into his thoughts. 

"You try' n get rid of me?" Schreck asked, folding his arms and eying Alex suspiciously. "Are you planning something?"

"Yeah, the big party, you know? Playboy Mansion will be moved here", he replied, rolling his eyes. "No really, isn't your girlfriend waiting for you or stuff?" 

"Or stuff." 

He slapped his hand onto his mouth. "Aaaww, wrong line, sorry." Schreck's girlfriend had just broken up with him a few days ago.  

"Don't worry", he answered, scratching his head, trying to cover his emotions. "Anyway, don't you stay too long, okay? I don't wanna come back tomorrow and still find you here. Honestly Alex, you could need some sleep." 

 "Uh huh", Alex made, again looking at his computer and within seconds being immersed in his work again.  Schreck shook his head grinning and closed the door behind him. Inside the office, Alex put some more coffee into his Coke. 

_*Aw okay, that was quite short again and I'm really sorry to leave you here, but I have to go. Hope to have some time during the weekend. By the way; have a nice one.  ^ . ° )_  


	3. Chapter 2

_*To my lovely reviewers _PRINCESS_DIVA 06_: "excellent"? "mind-blowing"?  Thank u, thank u, thank u!! Actually Clear's already there but I'm sure u've noticed :o) and yes, she will surely show up 'in natura' soon.  I've been on __ur__ page, but – why are u concealing _ur___ fics? :o)  KINGSLEY FEAT: DHARKE_: No, not too strong (wipes away her tears -  naaaw), I want u guys to be honest. Where did u get this feeling from since I never hide anything in my stories (like names, logic n stuff, lol). Okay, so the story goes on like – forget it, for any further information: read on, hehe   The moment I wrote that Liz was dead I could hear ur scream of victory n joy in my mind, lol   Well yeah that 'boring' one. Of course surely no normal person would say that, but 1) it didn't directly refer to her death, more to the fact that everything started all over again, u know? 2) Carter's not normal; 3) he's drunk; 4) Carter's not normal; 5) he's drunk; 6) Carter's – eerr ….  Next one: that's the way it was meant.  Noooooo, I'd never do that!! But I've seen people do – the word that described my state of mind then starts with a 'Y' and ends with an 'UCK'!*__

Chapter 2

The early morning hours. The sun hadn't risen yet, but darkness had started to disappear and let light have its scene. The air was fresh and cold and touched the skin like an icy hand. Not many voices and noises outside – silence inside. Not deadly, peaceful. It was the short moment after a beautiful dream you just woke up from, yet not noticing the room around you, only feeling the warm sheets of your bed, the place you feel safe. Reality is just a word without any meaning. Until it grabs you, startles you out of the comforting dreamy haze. The thoughts, the worries, this time they do not come one by one, they fall on you like a net, tie you up. You cannot move. There's no way to escape. 

It took a moment until Carter realized that he had woken up because somebody was staring at him. He opened his eyes and almost closed them instantly. The headache he had was unbearable. He waited until the pain eased up a little. A 'plop' was heard followed by a fizzing sound. Slowly and cautiously opening his eyes again he noticed a glass somebody held in front of him. There were some white little balls or something in it that whirled round as they were dissolving in the liquid. He felt someone taking his hand and laying it around the glass, which was cold and a bit wet so it nearly slipped off his hands. 

"Drink." He heard a familiar voice. Drink? He could feel, smell, more or less see – was he still alive? Carter tried to rearrange his thoughts, but soon gave up due to the fact that it only increased his headache. 

"Drink it or your head will explode", the voice continued and though it was low and calm it felt like a scream in his maltreated brain. Drink? Only the thought of made him sick, but nevertheless he took a sip. A bit salty, but fresh. The well-known taste of soluble aspirin; he had taken so many of them in his life; he should get them for free in the meantime. The bubbles ran down his throat and the coolness of the water felt good. "Coffee", he croaked. 

"No way; you can have some fruit tea if you want to."

The thought of sweet red tea made his stomach revolting even more. 

The next thing he remembered were the cold tiles of his bathroom in his back as he sat down beside the toilet and leant back. If he was dead, this surely was hell. As if he had read his mind he heard Alex' voice from outside. "Still alive?" He stood up, still a bit shaky and went back into the huge living room. Alex watched him as he walked towards the couch, ready to jump up in case Carter needed his help and for a short moment an old, familiar ray of hate lit up in him. He hated weakness, but even more to be unable to hide it, hide it in front of Alex Browning, whom he had thought to be the biggest wimp in the entire school. 

"I'd say welcome back to life, but since you weren't dead –"

"Fuck you!" he grumbled and sat down. 

"What happened?" 

Carter shrugged and drank some more. "Just what I told you before I –" he stopped and gazed across the room. It was a huge loft, even bigger than the last one he used to share with Clear and Alex. About three years ago, Liz had moved to New York, searching for an apartment. Carter still didn't know what had made him offer her to move in. Liz had eyed him suspiciously and than burst out into laughter for the simple thought of her and Carter living together seemed to be the greatest joke she had ever heard. But finding a payable place to stay had been nearly impossible at that time and so she accepted his offer. Clear had recommended to position a right round the clock observation in front of the house, since in her eyes it was like trying to keep fire and ice within a box without one extinguishing the other. But it had worked incredibly well. They had their arguments as usual, especially when Liz drove Carter mad while mocking at the countless number of bimbos he used to bring home and that never stayed longer than one night. He had thrown her out of the apartment a thousand times but she had never left, just laughed. 

"You are sure that it wasn't– " Alex cut off as he met Carter's eyes. "Of course not", he added, wondering what had made him say this. Certainly it was an accident, all of those deaths had been _accidents. Coincidental accidents, for everyone who didn't now the truth. _

"What's up with you Browning? Forgetting so soon?" Carter smirked, starting to regain his self-control. 

"Anyone been there who was involved?" 

"Ah, the agent's back."

Alex didn't react to that and just waited for an answer. His friend shook his head. "Not as far as I know. I mean, it wasn't a huge wave or a shark or stuff, like I told you; they said it was a _cramp." He nearly spat the word. _

"Who told you?"

"One of her twin-cousins called me, Benji or Joel, I can never tell, not even on the phone."

"Liz never told them anything?"

"Not as far as I know."

"You asked them?"

"For fuck's sake, Browning, stop examining me, I'm none of those fucking witnesses you use to talk to!" Carter gave him a furious look as he began to become really upset. Which was good, Alex decided. He knew how to treat him when he was in the mood to kill. Ignore him or beat him up were the options. 

"You called Clear?" 

"Of course." Mentioning her name intensified the pressure Alex felt in his stomach since Carter had called him up last night. He wanted to have her by his side again as soon as possible, the distance to Boston was too far. And thinking of her being in a plane right now made him even sicker. 

"She'll be fine", Carter said. 

"How do YOU know??" The question wasn't meant to come out that angry. Alex shrugged and mumbled an excuse, then put on his jacket, standing up he added a bit friendlier:  "Get up; we'll meet her at the airport." 

~°~.~°~.

"Attention please, flight 475 will arrive at 2:15pm, I repeat; flight 475 will arrive at 2:15pm."

"No!!" Impatiently Carter threw his still half-filled coke into the garbage can right beside him, single drops splashing onto the floor and onto the white coat of a blonde woman who stepped by. She gave an appalling squeak that cut like a knife in Carter's head. "_You – _you_ – this is Donna Karan!" _

Carter gave her a strange look. "No, you're not."

Her eyes widened. In any other occasion she would've been exactly his type of women, but right now she only got on his nerves. 

"You will pay this!" she breathed angrily. 

"What?!" He gave her one of his famous scaring looks and the blonde automatically took a step back. 

"This was an expensive, limited-edition-"

"Just fucking get out of my sight!" Carter yelled and she took another step back. Alex had opened his purse and took some dollar bills from it, handing them to the perplexed woman. "I'm sure this will offset the cleaner's bill." He pulled Carter away from her, towards one of the cafes. "Sit down, be quiet!" he ordered,  "and get that grin off of your face; you will pay it back."

"Oh my God, so much money, how in the world will I ever be able to?" He rolled his eyes and so did Alex. He glanced at his watch. 1:15pm. Another hour. The flight was supposed to land at 11:40am. He ordered some drinks for them and while they were waiting for the waitress to bring them, he tried to reach Clear. Carter grimaced as he listened to Alex' words; typical lovers' conversation. There was another delay of seventy minutes and Alex thanked the same fate he usually cursed for the fact that this time his friend didn't try to beat someone up to soothe his anger. The minutes seemed to pass slowly and the hands of the clock just wouldn't move faster, but finally the speakers announced the arrival of flight 475 and both of them left the cafeteria, sure to welcome Clear within the next minutes. 

Carter stood at one of the big side-windows and watched the sky. It was perfectly blue, there wasn't a single cloud. His headache had disappeared one hour ago - after he had taken about five or six more pills - and so the bright sunlight didn't hurt his eyes, which shone warmly through the glass. Only after a while he realized that the little black spot he saw wasn't what he had thought it to be. That was no bird. Still far away, but it just had to be Clear's plane. Never being the patient one, he couldn't even bear the thought of any further delay. The spot became bigger each second. Carter's fingers began to drum against his hip. He turned around to Alex, who was just leafing though one of the magazines in front of him. It fell on the ground, so he bent down to pick it up. Hearing a strange sound behind him, Carter turned back to the window, just as a huge black something crashed into it, smashing his body as if he was a fly that hit a windshield at full speed. His blood spread all over the place, but there was no one able to help or care because one by one the other people suffered the same fate. It didn't take more than a few seconds to extinguish the lives of 250 people. 

~°~.~°~.

"Carter! What's up?" He opened his eyes and saw Alex kneeling down beside him, a worried expression on his face. Some people watched them - the elderly woman, the young man, carrying his little son on his shoulders, the blonde with her DKNY-outfit, all of the people he had just watched being killed - now unsure whether to help or not. "What happened? You suddenly broke down." Carter stared at him, at the magazine he still held in his hands, unable to speak for a few seconds for he just couldn't believe what had just happened, then mumbled two words Alex only understood when he repeated them. 

"I died."

"You – what??"

"You heard me! Like one of your fucking premonitions!! _I_ had one this time!" He lowered his voice. "The plane – it's gonna crash down, Alex." And seeing the frightened look on his face, Alex had no doubt he wasn't joking. As soon as he turned around he could see a plane at the end of his approach, but still too fast to stop and obviously racing into the wrong direction. Straight towards the huge entrance hall. The woman in the DKNY-outfit shrieked as she followed his look. Carter jumped up and pushed Alex out of the way, just in time, before the roaring of the motors was mixed with horrified screams and the ear piercing sound of shattering glass. Carter ducked to escape one of the lamps that fell down on him and only by that was able to escape the left wing that decapitated a man standing close to him the next second. He watched the rest of his corpse falling to the ground limply. Like a monstrous dinosaur the machine raced through the hall, the wheels only now and then getting contact to the ground, its steel body smashing bodies, bags, chairs, table all at once, not caring whether it was human flesh and bones, wood or metal. Next to him, there was Alex, standing motionless as if he didn't notice what was happening around him. Meanwhile the machine had been stopped by one of the heavy buttresses outside the building, leaving a battlefield behind. Alex shook his head, unwilling to believe his eyes showing him the disaster around him. Carter laid a hand on his shoulder, but he shook it off, and started to run towards the plane, only one thought on his mind, one name, five letters.   


	4. Chapter 3

_*I wanna dedicate this chapter to Maunzi and Pascha. We will miss you – but you are allowed go. And to the two dogs that are going to live a thousand years, as well as to Sherry, whose strength surprises me again and again.*_

Chapter 3

The beeping in his head just wouldn't stop. Alex stared blankly at the long rows of covered bodies on the ground. The Warfield. Over and over again. Sometimes he thought he couldn't take anymore. Their lives seemed to have become a constant repetition. And, worst of all, they hadn't found Clear yet. The passenger inside the plane were shocked, but only a few of them were injured, none of them seriously. Where the hell was she? The beeping continued, but he ignored it, until Carter gave an unnerved sigh. "Shit Browning, fucking answer your phone, will ya? It's driving me crazy!"

He nearly fell over backwards as he took a look at the display. That was impossible. "Clear?" he asked, making Carter frown as well. 

"Alex?" The connection wasn't very good; there were lots of hissing and other interferences, but it was definitely _her voice. "See, the …. delay …. hours …. still no chance …. trying to reach you, but ….. connection …. 'kay? 'lex?" _

"You're okay?" He was dumbfounded.

"Of cour …. up? …. voice …. strange."

"Don't come here. Clear, you hear me? Don't come here. There was an accident. I don't want you to – Clear? Clear?? Aw, fuck technology!!" He almost threw his cell into the garbage can beside him. 

"Shouldn't you be glad right now?" Carter stared at him. 

For a short moment Alex smiled. "Yeah, she wasn't on that flight", then remembered what had cut off his relief. 

Carter raised an eyebrow. "Aw really?! Duh! And I thought she was calling you from the inside!"

"She mustn't come here, it's too dangerous!"

Carter followed him as he hurried toward one of the passenger terminals, which lay far away from the scene of the accident. The employee was obviously still shocked by what she had just seen, but nevertheless complied with his wish to check the data he asked her for. Inward Alex prayed that Clear hadn't already taken another flight, but his wish wasn't fulfilled, as he had to find out only seconds later. "Flight 475 will be diverted to the Stewart International Airport, which is about 55 miles away from –"

"I know where it is", he cut her off. "Is Miss Clear Rivers on that flight? She's not allowed to –"

"Sir, the machine has already started. If there's any security problem – Sir?" Alex' thoughts were racing through his mind. "Just tell me whether she will be on that flight!" he demanded, not noticing Carter looking at him, eyebrow raised, who had never seen him act in such an authoritarian manner. 

"Clear Rivers?" The woman asked, typing the name into the keyboard, obviously too tensed to see the wordplay in that name combination, for there was not even a grin on her face.  Alex supposed he would have simply knocked her out if she had. 

She hesitated, then shook her head. "No, no Clear Rivers, Sir."

"What?" Alex pulled the screen around to check it himself, but she was right. 

"But if you give me a moment ….", the young woman continued, cautiously turning the flat screen back, and pressing some other buttons. "Yes. A Miss Clear Rivers has taken the flight to LGA, with is the Fiorello La Guardia –"

"When?"

"The machine has already landed, Sir."

"Call your colleagues over there and tell them to make sure that she won't leave the building!" 

Without any further words Alex spun around, ran outside towards his car, and drove towards Queens. He wasn't sure whether it was the right decision, an airport – so many things could happen to her there. But after all, so many things could happen to her wherever she was. 

~°~.~°~.

"If you had called her up before we could've skipped that shit!"

Alex took a deep breath, his exes fixed on the street, knowing he would certainly strangle Carter if he didn't concentrate on driving. Why could that guy never stop provoking people? 

"What do you have your fucking cell for?"

"I _called_ her! At the time you went to the loo. She didn't pick up! Fuck, you don't really want to make me responsible for what happened at the airport, do you?" 

"Hell, no." He frowned as he thought it over. "Well, maybe –"

"Horton, just shut up, okay?? I can't stand it right now! All I want is to know is if Clear's alright. And I swear if you don't stop uttering that bullshit I'm gonna throw you out of the car!"

"Aw Browning, c'mon. It's quite cute how you try to scare me, but that's all. It's just cute."

Without warning, Alex drove into a side street and slammed on the brakes, causing a loud a loud chorus of hooting behind him. "GET OUT OR SHUT THE FUCK UP!! I HAVE NO TIME FOR THIS!!"

Carter only smirked as usual. "Since there's a small chance that I seem to have taken on that fucking clairvoyant-job, shouldn't you better be as close to me as possible?"

Alex closed his eyes for a moment. ~ Don't listen to him, just don't listen to him. ~ He turned the car round and drove back to the main street, which lead onto the highway. 

"This was the first time you had a premonition?" he asked, trying to lead the conversation into more innocuous ways.

"No man, I had thousands of, I just didn't think it was necessary to tell anyone!"

"Listen -"

"No, _you_ listen Browning!  "I don't want that fucking bullshit!! How the hell could you dare hand it on to me?? Kindly take it back!!"

Alex suppressed a laugh. "Carter, nobody _wants __it. You just get it. That's all."_

Instead of retorting, he just snorted and silently stared out of the window for the rest of the journey. 

~°~.~°~.

The next surprise waited for them as soon as they entered the departure lounge. The security officers seemed to have taken his demand to not let Clear leave the airport a bit too serious. They didn't give a damn about their explanations. By the time Alex and Carter reached the room she had been brought to, she was already more than upset. They could hear her courses outside as they approached he door. 

"Alex!! Will you take your hands off of me?!" She looked daggers at the men, then flew into his arms as soon as he had identified himself and the officers let go of her. "What's wrong?" 

He pulled her tight to himself and buried his face in her long blonde hair, not caring about the looks the officers gave him. He was sure they had considered her to be a criminal and now had to find that she was only some stupid FBI agent's girl, they had played the babysitter for. And he couldn't even tell them the truth. A second later his eyes were attracted by another person that was still sitting between the security people, looking quite pale. 

Alex didn't believe what he saw. "Tod?"

"Hi", Tod greeted croaky, giving him a weak smile. 

"Yeah look who I met at the airport in Boston." Clear smiled pityingly. "Poor Tod. He couldn't take something he ate this morning. I didn't want to leave him alone and so I took another flight. Something was wrong with mine, I don't know."

"So you haven't heard it yet?" Carter asked, then nodding to Tod. "Waggner."

"Horton", he mumbled back. 

"Well, they won't show them the pics during the flight", Alex remarked. 

"Can we get out of here?" Tod asked. "I really could need some fresh air."

"Carter, I'm so sorry", Clear said as they left the building and gave him a short hug, knowing he didn't appreciate that much, especially not in public. 

"Yeah, guess we all are", he mumbled. 

After they had packed their luggage into the trunk, Clear let herself fall into the seat beside Alex. "Man, what a way to start the day!" She turned around to face the others. "Okay, what's up?"

"Not here, we should talk bout that at home-"

"No way!" his fiancée insisted. "I'm not gonna wait the whole journey home."

Alex decided that the straight way was the best and so he told her what had happened at the JFK airport. Clear listened to him without interruption. Tod only stared at him. It had been a few months since they last had met. As they were growing up together Tod never would had thought that there could be anything in the entire world that could tear them apart at any point in their lives. But at the time that crash happened and Alex had started to get those premonitions, the gap between them had been built. Actually Tod was supposed to go on that trip to Paris as well, but had become ill two weeks before. When he heard what had happened and Alex had told him about his premonitions for the first time he had thought him to be still in a state of shock, but after all these people had died, beginning with Alex' other best friend George, Tod's elder brother, he believed him, willing to find an answer to the question why his brother had been taken away from him. But ever since then Alex had started to distance himself from him, intending to protect him, of course, and their friendship had never become that close again as it was before. Tod considered it to be an evil twist of fate that his former best friend now preferred to spend so much time with their former deadly enemy, Carter Horton, who had spent all of his life to chase and beat the shit out of them. He was ripped out of his thoughts as he noticed someone staring at him. "What?" he asked confused. 

"I said", Clear repeated, "that it might be better if you come to our house and stay there for a while, until we have figured things out."

Tod nodded, trying to understand the meaning of her words. Did he look that ill that they were afraid something could happen to them while he was alone? Or did they really think that he was becoming part of that freaky game, which just seemed to have entered the next round?  

~°~.~°~.

"You sure you don't want me to call a doctor?" Alex asked, looking at Tod, who didn't look any better. Quite the reverse. But he stopped him: "Naw, I'll be just happy with lying here, puking now and then, like you know …. By the way, you think you could get me one of those FBI-cards, seems to be very impressive at people. Like a backstage pass."

Alex eyed him indignantly. "It's not only a backstage pass; this is an access-all-areas one."

"Well, can we finally end the polite phrases and discuss the incidents? Especially one part?" Carter interrupted them. "I dunno what about you; but I have some more things to do, gotta be in the firm this evening, it doesn't run itself."

"Wow, you're a member of the Firm?" Tod mocked at him. "I always had an idea that one day you – oh my God." He jumped up and ran into the bathroom, the door shutting with a loud bang behind him.

"He he, stupid bastard, you deserve it!" Carter grinned. 

"Stop that, it's not funny!" Alex rebuked him, yelling over his shoulder: "Tod you okay? You need something?"

"Just gimme a puke's rest okay?" A muffled voice came out of the room. 

"Aw you're right, Browning. It's not funny. It's _hilarious_!" 

"Let's sit over there and talk", Clear said, pointing at the huge balcony. "I'll just get upstairs and put on something more comfortable." She hugged and kissed Alex before she left, causing Carter to smirk. "Aw, don't you worry bout me, if you wanna ago upstairs with her …."  

"Just don't listen to him", Clear said, unable to completely hide her smile. 

"I've tried; it doesn't work", Alex grinned. 

~°~.~°~.

Inside the bathroom, Tod sat down, leaning against the cold ceramic tiles of the wall. Why was he punished so hard for some innocent cream tartlets he had for breakfast? That just wasn't fair. He raised his hand and flushed the lavatory, then stood up and took a glance at his reflection in the mirror. God, he looked like death himself. He felt like his head was going to explode soon. Maybe some cold water would help. Undecided his eyes wandered between the wash basin and the bathtub. The faucet of the wash basin was a quite low one, so he decided in favour of the shower head. 

The water was a welcome refreshment; he enjoyed the coolness it offered. As he reached for the faucet to turn on more water, he involuntarily dropped one of the bottles of shampoo. It often had made Clear upset that Alex never fully screw on the top of a bottle, but Tod didn't notice it falling down, the shampoo running out of it, covering the floor round the tub. Turning the water off, he put the shower head back onto its holder, then reached for one of the towels, but didn't find any, so he turned towards the wash basin where he knew he had seen some. The smooth sole of his shoe slipped on the liquid and he fell backwards. Trying to grab hold of something he ripped off the shower curtain, then felt his head bang hard against the tiles, making him dizzy for a moment. The next perception was far more frightening; out of some reason he couldn't breathe. He felt a pain round his neck, something was throttling him. Instinctively his fingers tried to pull it away, he didn't even know _what it was, all he knew was that his powers faded quickly. Desperately his feet tried to find a hold, but only slipped on the wet ground. The blood rushed through his head, dizzying him even more. Soon it definitely would explode and there was nothing he could do. He looked around, but there was nothing that could help him cut himself off. _

_* So will he find something to cut himself off? Will he be rescued? Pathetic cliff-hanger, huh? I'm sorry, but I have to go n wanted to post at least the fic so far. And see what I meant? There are lots of things I changed, compared to my other fic.  Again sorry for that, but I'm sure it won't be too hard for you to figure things out. I know, these chapters are a bit corny and melancholy, but I wanted to explain what happened to the people in the past. And sometimes these things simply get corny, lol*_


	5. Chapter 4

_*Big shout out to DHARKE: again u made me blush, lol   I love __ur__ hilarious comments! Please let there be no more 'computer troubles', they're too nerve-racking and time-consuming, lol    Uhm, Billy or Terry? Actually I – oh no no, see yourself ;o)    I excuse whether the last sentence of the 3rd chapter was a bit misleading, but I'm sure u know which name it really was, don't u? lol  Tell me and u'll get some colourful Quality Street's, ^ . ^ And as I said, I'm sorry, but it's gonna be confusing due to all the changes. Like Tod alive etc. Let's just imagine it was George Alex had a dream about. I know this is like on the cheap, but there are so many things that are based on the first part, that I cannot completely leave out the connection. And one more thing: George's quote is taken from the original script.*_

Chapter 4

~°~.~°~.

Carter yawned and played around with his cell, checking the messages he had received during the last hours, then frowned. Was that thing broken? Why did he only receive half a message from one of his assistants? Could some throwing down on the ground now and then actually destroy such a phone? Stupid thing. Then he remembered the meaning of the letters and numbers shown on his display. He was obviously far more shocked by the whole scene than he ever would confess. 

  ~°~.~°~.

The pain had become unbearable and he would've screamed if he had enough breath. Tod's powers grew weaker each second. He could feel his eyes being nearly crushed out of his eye socket. The tube wound tighter around his neck each time he tried to loosen it. With a last ounce of strength he tried to get hold in the slippery tub, but again failed. The dizziness in his head increased and the outlines of the bathroom faded from his view as darkness started to surround him, the pain started to vanish and soon had disappeared. 

~°~.~°~.

"What the hell are you doing in there??"

Carter had followed Alex to the bathroom, who was now trying to open the door, but it was locked from the inside. Repeatedly he knocked against the wood. "Tod? Are you okay? C'mon, open the door. Tod??" But they didn't hear anything form the inside. "Tod? Open the door or –"

Alex jerked back as a something black missed his nose only by an inch and crashed against the bathroom door, making the wood around the lock splinter. Carter only had to kick against it one more time and the door swung open. "Shit", he whispered as they caught sight of Tod's lifeless body, his face nearly violet. Without any word they ran towards him, Carter cutting him off the tube with his ever present switchblade, then helping Alex to lay him on the floor, who immediately started with resuscitation. Startled from all the noise, Clear had entered the bathroom as well and now ran back to the phone to call the ambulance. 

~°~.~°~.

In Carter's eyes they had been in too many hospitals during the last weeks. They were waiting for Alex, who was in Tod's room at the moment, alone with him, since the doctor had only allowed one person to visit him. As the paramedics arrived, Alex and Carter had already managed to reanimate their friend, though he was still unconscious as he was brought to the hospital. Now the painkillers they had given to him calmed his pain, but the questions in his mind wouldn't disappear. His brain worked on low flame, but still there were thousand things he wanted to know. _Had_ to know. If only his voice wouldn't be so croaky due to the injuries the tube had caused. 

"You really shouldn't talk", Alex said for the fourth time during the last two minutes, causing Tod to grin weakly. "Is it …. when I …. wasn't on board …. and Clear …. did I …." 

Alex forced himself to look him straight in the eyes. This was exactly what he had been trying to protect Tod from during the last years. And now it had caught up with his best friend as well. He tried to smile. "You shouldn't worry bout that right now." His words missed their target, which he could see as Tod began to sit up in his bed, shakily, but refusing to let Alex help him. He tried to take a deep breath, but instead, twisted his face in pain. "You're keeping me off you all of the time!" His words came out slowly and some of them could hardly be heard, but he continued, his voice gradually becoming hoarser. "Ever since that fucking plane crash! And then, even more since the last time. Fuck, I can damn well look after myself; I don't need your protection!" He frowned. "Well, most of the time." But you won't get rid of me this time, you hear me??" Tod folded his arms. "You will always have my friendship, Alex. No matter whether you want it or not, you will always have it."

Alex smiled, but before he could say something, Carter, who had entered the room behind a strict looking nurse who had decided that her patient needed his sleep now, answered sarcastically: "Yeah well then congratulations; welcome to the team!"

~°~.~°~.~°~.~°~.~°~.~°~.~°~.~°~.

"Why do all of this people have to die when it's us it wants to get?" Tod asked the next day. He still had difficulties to speak, but clearly felt better. Alex and Clear had stayed in the hospital overnight, refusing to leave though the nurse had assured them a dozen times that she would call them if there were any changes. In the meanwhile Carter had been in his firm for a while, but had left as soon as possible. He didn't went straight back to the hospital though. He had spent a long time just sitting in his car in the subterranean garage, staring at the display of his cell, constantly pressing one of the buttons as soon as the light started to become paler. It was only a short message, the same one he had looked at right before they had found Tod. One of his assistants had obviously wanted to remind him of the meeting they had that evening. Asking the corresponding person about it, he had only received an uncertain smile and the way the man shook his head told Carter that he really had no clue what he was talking about. So he had kept staring at the letters and numbers. _Meet. w. H.-Corp. 8 pm. Paradoxically each of the abbreviations took an entire line as if somebody had pulled them apart as far as possible, so he had to press one of the buttons to see the end, which consisted of one single abbreviation. The one he always used for today. __Tod._

This time Carter had waited until the display became completely dark as a voice at his side made him start. But it had only been one of the security officers wondering if he was okay. As soon as he had left him, Carter illuminated the display one more time and started to press some more buttons until he received the desired question: _Are you sure you want to delete this message? Without any further thought, he had pressed the first option. _Yes_. With a sigh he had let his cell fall onto the seat beside him and then started motor._

Tod frowned. "I don't get that." 

"That's the way it goes. You were meant to die there, as well as them. Just because you escaped, doesn't mean that they're saved as well. It's not like the last time."

The bewildered expression on Tod's face made the other's laugh. They had spent the last two hours trying to explain him the consequences of his accident. The ones beside the pain in his neck. 

"But do you really think it was because I missed the plane?" Tod wanted to know and wanted to kick his own ass the next moment. Though many people died in accidents at home – being strangled by a tube wasn't that ordinary. Though – "Why wasn't it after me the last time? You remember? I got that stupid flu two weeks before our trip to Paris. So I was meant to be on _that_ flight as well."

Clear shook her head. "Your time wasn't over then."

"So how do you know it should've been?"

Carter gave him an are-you-really-that-stupid look, before he said:" Remember the tube? _That's_ how you know it."

Tod gave an unnerved sigh. This was like a nightmare. The same nightmare Alex, Clear and Carter had already gone through two times, so it surely would be easier for them to see the signs, to escape Death's new design, whatever it might be this time. Alex had told him that there was a new plan each time. The first time the 180 survivors had been killed following the order they should have died in the plane crash. Whenever Death had failed to kill one of them the last time, it had simply started to kill innocent people that had been near them, the more the better. _Innocent. He snorted at that thought. Weren't they all innocent? Surviving had been their only mistake. The main of all human instincts. And now they were punished for that. Tod was sure that he had the stubbornness to fight this intangible creature, but he didn't know whether he had the power. Admittedly, the others had already beaten it twice, but looking at all those people who didn't, he wasn't sure which side _he_ would belong to. _

"What fucking God would do this?" he mumbled, thinking of what Alex had told him about George's words as he had entered the plane. Gazing at a crying baby, whose parents had done anything to calm down, he had decided that they were not having any severe turbulences or worse during the flight. "Good sign", he had said. "Younger the better. It would be a fucked up God to take down this plane." Seeing a young man suffering from Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis in the first row, he had added: "A _really fucked up God." But the plane __had crashed down. No question of money, age, helplessness or anything else, all of them had died. Tod frowned. "Didn't they tell us that He was _good_, during that Sundays in church when we were ten?"_

Carter raised his hands. "Don't look at me! I've never been in any of them fucking churches. I only liked to chase them well dressed little punks afterwards."

Alex rolled his eyes, knowing him and Tod had been his favourite victims. "This is far beyond that God they presented you there, so you wouldn't be too afraid of life and the world in general, for they gave you someone to believe in, who made up the rules and that all of it would make sense in the end. But in reality it's exactly like Liz said; there is no infinite plan that cannot be changed." 

"So?"

Alex shrugged. "We have to stay together, find out what the new design is about and then beat it again."

Tod gave an uncertain laugh, then a wince. "Ouch. Sounds easy."

Carter smirked. "Oh, don't worry, it is", he replied ironically.

Alex turned to Carter. „And since _you have the premonitions now, I expect you to be available all of the time and tell us every single detail about what you see, no matter how unimportant it might seem, got that?"_

"Forget that staying together, Browning. We are a bit older than the last time, you know? All of us have jobs and I'll do a fuck hanging around with you guys while my firm goes down the tubes."

"That wordplay was intentional!" Tod complained, his voice no more than a whisper at that time, so they decided that he needed a rest. Since Clear had come back earlier from her conference than she had planned to, she was the only one with free time and therefore stayed at the hospital, causing Alex stomach to turn though he knew it was best this way. 

"Be careful", Alex said to Carter as they left the hospital and went toward their cars, both of them sports cars. 

Carter smirked. He reached for the door, but then stopped, uncertain what to do. "Alex?" 

A bit irritated by the way Carter's voice sounded he turned round to face him, having a dreadful foreboding, as Carter obviously evaded the eye contact as if there was something he was afraid to tell. "What?"

The next second Carter smirked as usual as if nothing had happened.  "I still can't believe you have such a cool car. Seems as if there was still hope for you."


	6. Chapter 5

_*Did you know that in real life Daniel Roebuck (Agent Weine) is almost four years younger than Robert Guenveur Smith (Agent Schreck)? I thought he was like ten years older. Well, who cares about reality? lol (still smiles stupidly, lol) Again big big TXL to DHARKE! I was afraid the chappie could be a bit too dramatic and corny, lol  Carter as the devil in disguise? Our friendly, patient, helpful Carter? ;o)*_

Chapter 5

"What's up with the Mills case?" 

Agent Weine appeared in the door of Alex' office, but he didn't notice him. He folded his arms and leant against the doorframe, waiting. Observing. While Alex had scared his partner at first, Weine had just thought him to be one more youth that had gone cuckoo by all the shit he watched on TV and those stupid PC games. Further fear was one of his weak spots; he hardly ever felt some. The world was crazy and sick and he was used to it. Compared to his colleague Schreck, Weine was far more earnest. Not due to his age – though the age difference amounted to ten years – but due to his experiences. He didn't have a nice childhood, never many friends, so had begun early to bury himself in his books and later in his work. Just like Schreck had done some nights before, he stared at Alex, who still hadn't notice his presence. He still wasn't sure about what to think of him. Of course, Alex was doing an excellent job, but there was something strange about him. Still. Something Weine couldn't put into words. If Weine had mucked around in esotericism, he maybe would have said that Alex was surrounded by a dark aura. It wasn't that he hadn't learnt to trust him; there was just this, well this _something. _

"Alex?" 

"Huuuh?" Alex still couldn't take his eyes off the screen. 

"The Mills case?" Weine repeated, the patience himself. 

"Huh?" 

"Alex?"

"Huh?" He gazed towards the direction of the owner of the voice that tried to attract his attention. "The Mills case!"

Good, the boy started to wake up. 

Alex reached into one of the desk drawers and handed a file to his superior. Schreck took it without even opening it, so it wasn't hard to guess that this hadn't been the reason for his visit. "You heard about that plane crash at JFK?" He wasn't sure whether Alex seemed to tense for a moment or not. 

"It was all over primetime news."

"That wasn't my question", Weine replied, knowing that Alex must feel like being examined. 

Instead of an answer, he leant back and folded his arms as well. "Why?"

"Why don't you give me a simple answer to a simple question?" the elder agent asked, not raising his voice in any way. "Have you been there, Alex?"

The young man shrugged. "Yes, Federal Agent Weine, I _have_ been there." He couldn't tell where the sudden rage inside of him came from. After all Weine wasn't his enemy. But Alex couldn't help the feeling that there was a somewhat accusing undertone in his superior's voice. "Is there _anything else you'd like to know?"_

Weine did not let himself get worked up. "What happened?"

"I'm sure you've seen the news as well."

"The unofficial version please."

Alex narrowed his eyes. He was far angrier with himself than with Weine, for it was still so easy to give him the feeling that someone tried to make him responsible. It was as if he had been taken back to the time when he was sixteen and had first met his later boss. Again he felt the anger and disbelief on the part of the agents, his own helplessness as he tried to explain something he didn't even understand himself and only knew for sure that no one would believe him. Even his best friend didn't, so why some overworked federal agents that only wanted to close the file of a stupid kid gone crazy should do? 

Weine draw his own conclusions from his silence. "So it happened again. The third time. Have you found out yet how the design works this time?"

Alex ears pricked up. He wasn't sure whether he had heard right. "No." 

"If there's anything we can do …."

Now Alex was speechless. Had Weine really just offered his help? 

"You're still of the opinion that I think you to be the 180 killer, don't you?"

"Actually …. in a way …. yes." What the hell was happening here?

Weine grinned. "Well, I guess I didn't do much to convince you that I didn't." 

Alex was confused. The only thing he was sure of was that he disliked the fact that Weine now knew about it, but it had been inevitable. What had he expected? That out of some mysterious reason Weine wouldn't hear about the crash or even if, wouldn't draw his conclusions? After all, it didn't change anything. 

"So if …."

Alex ran his fingers through his already tousled hair and shook his head. "You know you can't. Unless you go and kill death. This would make us become immortal. So the overpopulation would increase even more due to the fact that no one dies and in a while – " he scratched his head, wondering where all this nonsense had come from. "Look, I know you just want to help, but – there's nothing you can do. We either beat it one more time or we don't. We live or we die. That's the stake, that's the game. Only difference is; the rules aren't clear yet." He was astonished how simple it sounded. Weine's mobile started to ring and he went outside, leaving Alex who was thankful to cut the talk short. He was sure that he would be allowed to take some time off, until everything was over - however - but who could tell how long it lasted. It wasn't that he liked his job so much that he wouldn't stand to break off for a while, the truth was that it was a perfect way to busy him, to distract him, tiring him enough to silence the constant questions and fears in his mind. Things that had driven him so mad a few years ago that he finally complied with his parent's wish to undergo psychiatric treatment. Actually the talks with the psychiatrist hadn't helped him much, for he hadn't been able tell him the whole truth, sure that if he did they'd never let him leave, but the time out had done him good. And his parents had finally stopped unnerving him with their well-meant but incessant worries. 

~°~.~°~.

Carter alternated between slamming on the gas, the brakes and the horn. It was unbelievable how many idiots owned a driver's license. And why had 98 percent of them to be in the streets right now? He was tired for he had spent half of the last night in his firm. Fucking job. If somebody had told him five years ago that he would work in the family business one day he simply would've laughed at that idiot or knocked him down, depending on his mood. He didn't really want to go and look for a job, but needed money since his father had cut off his money supply after he had found out that his son spent more time on partying then on studying. The job was much more demanding and time consuming than he ever would have thought, but to his own astonishment Carter found out that he kind of liked it. It was so funny to fire people, which he did as often as possible. Well, at least he threatened with it since Liz had managed to wake his conscience, something he thought to be irretrievably buried years ago. Liz. Stupid bitch. He was angry with her, angry with himself. Why couldn't she have died before she moved into his apartment, turning his life upside down and waking somewhat positive feelings towards her in him? He didn't love her; he hated the fact that he was missing her. And then as a farewell gift she had restarted the game. Carter slammed on the brakes as someone nearly collided with his car. He leant out of the window and yelled at the person: "What the fuck is wrong with you, asshole??" The next moment he almost swallowed his chewing gum as he caught a quick sight of the man's face. That couldn't be, this was simply impossible. Not here. Not now. He was distracted by a loud hooting behind him and when he looked to the front again the man had already disappeared in the crowd. As he continued driving he was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he even forgot to give the hooting idiot the finger, apart from pulling him out of the car and smashing his face in, of course. 

~°~.~°~.~°~.~°~.~°~.~°~.~°~.~°~.

The janitor reached into his toolbox to find the corresponding tool to screw the bolt tight. He cursed as one of the pointed nail scattered at the bottom pricked into his finger. As he pulled it out and tried to lick off the blood he nearly fell backwards off the ladder he stood on. Cursing even louder he hardly managed to keep his balance. He was a _janitor for God's sake! No goddamn plumber or engineer. Why couldn't those hospital weirdoes get that? Thinking they were so great, so celestial. Gods in white, don't make me laugh. _

"Hey Jack", one of the male nurses said, grinning at him. "You're redecorating the entire building or are them managers just too greedy again to call a real engineer?" Jack gazed along the ceiling. Most of the panels had been taken away, certainly more than would have been necessary, so he could see the long rows of cables and conductings that lead through the whole building. This hospital might look posh from the outside, but nobody should ever have to see _that_. 

"Do you like your job, Mr Lonsdale?" One of the managers asked the young man, passing by the very moment. 

He swallowed. "Yes."

"So if you like to keep it, I suppose you better convince me that we really _need_ your help in this hospital. Maybe you could prove it by _working, not by _hanging around_." _

The male nurse gritted his teeth, but disappeared into one of the rooms behind him. 

"Sir - " Jack began. 

"Don't worry, Jack, I'm sure you will make it. As always", the manager said, walking on and not even looking at the janitor. Jack snorted and grimaced as the man entered on of the elevators. A movement below his feet cut his anger off for a while. A blonde long legged young woman passed by, her claret dress not revealing as much as he would've liked to, but still enough to distract him from his momentary work. He didn't care that she was accompanied by a young dark haired man, nor did he care about his next step. His foot slipped on the rungs and he lost his balance. The ladder wobbled heavily and finally fell down to the ground, knocking a huge bucket over, the dirty water spreading out over the floor. 

Clear and Todd turned around as they heard the noise behind them. Clear walked towards the man to help him as Tod suddenly grabbed her from behind and pulled her back. She jerked around, an angry expression on her face and only then the single pieces of the puzzle suddenly fitted together. As he fell down, the man must have tried to grab hold of something and so ripped one the cables off its socket. It was lying in the opening, ready to fall down any time. She stared on the floor; her feet were only a few inches away from the puddle of the ground.

 "Go away! The cable!" she screamed, causing the people to look at her if she had just escaped from a madhouse. "You! The janitor! Fucking get away from the water!!" 

Confused the man stared at the wild gesticulating girl and her friend, then took a look above. Just at that time one of the last hooks loosened and it shot down, directly into the water. A nurse screamed as she watched his body being shaken by the electric shocks that ran through his body. It was a horrible play to watch. Everybody stood frozen, none of them able to help. One of the employees must have run to the fuse box, for suddenly the light went out and only the emergency power generator kept working to guarantee that no patient would suffer in such a situation. Jack's body fell to the ground, but no one laughed at the splashing sound it made as he hit the puddle below him. People rushed towards him, intending to help him, but though he got first class first aid, it was too late for him. The lights were turned on again and Clear was sure she'd never forget his eyes. Opened wide, they were staring at the ceiling, a disbelieving expression in them. His left hand lied on the floor, the fingers cramped, yet lifeless, the index finger pointing in their direction as if to show whose place he had taken. 

Tod gulped as he noticed what she was staring at. The feeling of unreality he had since the security officers had put him under arrest a few days ago, slowly left and was replaced by knowledge. Nobody would've been able to tell him this was a normal accident. It had missed the survivors. Again. For the third time. 

_*I'm sorry if it was too melodramatic; I'll try n stop it. Maybe some more action would do good (laughs at the thought of herself creating an action sequence). Since I always fail at physics I dunno how high and dangerous the remaining voltage is (or if this is the even right term), so if some cracks could help me out, u're welcome, lol*_


	7. Chapter 6

_*DHARKE: (clearing her throat) Wow, the 'legendary award', I dunno what to say …. I would like to thank Dharke Productions, the Academy …. ^ . ° Again huge thanx for reviewing my story. U got me right with the irony and stuff; it's my evil sense of humour, too, lol Well, why Jack? Don't ask, but it's not what I think u think, hehe* _

Chapter 6 __

The night wasn't willing to leave yet but the first rays of the sun forced it back to its dark realm, where it had to wait until his return would be allowed. There was no noise in this street at this time, no slamming car doors of people coming home or leaving, no sounds of an engine, no voices. For a while it was absolutely quiet as if the world rested for a moment to prepare itself for another day, as if everything that had happened only minutes ago had suddenly become unimportant in this little space. 

The peaceful silence was unbearable. Carter reached for the remote control and turned the music on. Loud hard beats resounded from the walls, filling the entire loft with Marilyn Manson's _This Is The New Shit. He pumped up the volume until the glass that stood next to the left speaker started to vibrate. At first he had thought Marilyn just a weirdo, but then started to like his texts. _Use Your Fist And Not Your Mouth_ seemed to be made for him. _

He heard about what had happened in the hospital, Clear had called him up. Though she never would have said so, Carter was sure that she was angry with him for he hadn't warned them, though Alex had assured him only because of the fact he had that premonition at the airport, didn't mean he was going to have them all of the time. Death's plan was not that clear, nor were the premonitions _if_ they appeared. Carter had spent half of the night, trying to find out if he had missed something, some tiny little information whoever had given him, he had failed to connect with the design, whatever it might be about. 

And then he made a strike. Some engineer-advertising-catalogue, one of them innumerable advertising stuff firms kept annoying him with. He hadn't taken a closer look at his mail yesterday evening. Damn, what else should he take into consideration? Maybe he should sit down and make a list, checking off the single points each day: morning, midday, evening, night. Check the mail. Watch everything on TV – no matter if commercials or movie – down to the last detail. Interpret and analyse everything you hear or see while talking to people. Jesus, he would go crazy. Now he knew why Browning had become so weird. No, he'd already been like that before.  

The CD stopped and Carter reached for his remote control to play it for the fourth time as he heard the doorbell ring. "I already told you I wouldn't go there", he said as he opened the door.

Alex stared at him, chewing his bottom lip. „Thought I'd asked you again though."

"Could've saved the time. I haven't changed my mind. You know what I said when Terry died. And I still mean it. I'm never gonna go to any of them stupid funerals again. Not to my parent's one, not to one of my friend's. It's not of any use."

"Sometimes it helps –"

"What for?!" Carter interrupted him, sounding harsher than he actually wanted to. He knew that Alex didn't intent to patronize him or make him feel guilty for his decision, but he was just tired of explaining his reasons. "To admit that it won one more time? That one fine day it'll get all of us?" He shook his head. "No. It's like that praying thing. Why do people go to a fucking church? They can do that shit at home. Anytime, anyplace." 

Alex remained silent, his hands in the pockets of his pants. He gazed over the room. The interior was typically Carter. Sparsely but expensive furnished, almost no carpets, only a few foliage plants that hardly managed to brighten up the cold colours of the furniture, but not as many as there had been before. A paradise for any psychologist. Everything that could have reminded him of the fact that only days ago he had shared that apartment with Liz was gone, storing in her room until someone would come and get it. End of one period, over and out. 

"N stop staring at me that way!"

Alex raised an eyebrow as he noticed that Carter was staring at him, frowning. He looked back innocently. "Which way?"

Carter gave an unnerved sighed n let himself fall into an easy chair beside him. 

"Maybe u wanna join us later, there's a –"

"Browning, leave it okay? Just accept my decision n go." 

It was obvious that Alex hated the thought to leave Carter alone. He didn't really think that Carter would harm himself, he was too stubborn to let some silly fate defeat him, but since it was still after them …. Carter gave him a tired look. "I swear I'm not even gonna go n take a piss without my cell okay? U can call me up _anytime, Mr Overprotective. But for now; just fucking leave my apartment." Though the words were quite rude, his voice didn't sound angry. Alex nodded and reached for the door handle. He had known before how this was going to end, it wasn't hard to guess, but Clear had insisted on it. Well, it had been worth the try. _

~°~.~°~.

As soon as Alex had left the apartment, Carter reached for his jacket. He wouldn't stay in here on more minute; he already felt as if the walls were closing in. He needed air, the loud sounds of the city. And for the first time in his life, he deadly needed people, no matter whether he knew them or not, after all he considered it to be better if he didn't. Just distraction. The kind of distraction none of his friends was able to offer him. He waited five more minutes to make sure not to run into Alex or Clear, then took the elevator, down to the underground car park belonging to the house, jumped in his car, turned up the music and speeded out of the garage. 

~°~.~°~.

"How is he?" Clear asked as they tried to make their way through the New York street jungle. 

"You know Carter. Never show any weakness." Alex shook his head. "He's not going to stay at home, Clear." 

"I know." She brushed his hair. "That's why I asked Tod to have an eye on him." 

Alex turned his head to face her and see whether she was joking. "Tod is doing - _what_??"

She shrugged. "The only reason why Tod would've come to the funeral would've been because of you. Because he is your friend and wants to help you. And I told him, that this would be a better way to do that." 

It was true that Tod had never really got to know Liz. Though he wasn't in the mood for laughing, Alex couldn't suppress a giggle. "Carter's gonna make mincemeat of him if he finds out what's going on. And since I know about Tod's sneaking abilities we will quickly be able to sell him by the gram." 

"Aw come on, he's not that bad."

Alex was confused. "Whom are we talking bout now?"

Clear shrugged again and smiled.

~°~.~°~.

Tod couldn't believe he really got mixed up in that. _Him_ trailing Carter Horton! He must have gone crazy! Maybe these were the after-effects of the pills he still had to take. The part of him that was hoping that perhaps Clear had been mistaken and Carter would stay at home was disappointed the very moment as he saw Carter's black car race out of the garage. Tod would've closed his eyes in despair if he hadn't run the risk of losing sight of him then. For a tiny little second he wished he was still lying in the hospital, but then he dismissed the thought from his mind. He would need his entire attention to try and follow Carter, who was driving like the devil himself as usual. Sometimes Tod wondered whether Carter maybe was an adopted child. 

~°~.~°~.

Carter concentrated on the single beats, as right before the best part, the two minutes drums solo, the music was suddenly interrupted by a loud beep. Irritated he pressed the button of his CD player again to make the music continue, regretting it a few seconds later as he understood that the beep must have come from the radio traffic service, which was strange for he never used it. But Carter had learnt from his mistakes, obviously not quick enough though. He tried to adjust the radio to the same station the signal had been sent from, but only heard the same sound again that meant the end of the announcement. "Shit!!" Carter hit on his steering wheel and slammed on the brakes. With squealing tyres the car came to a hold. The next driver tried to brake as well, but failed and crashed into the back of his car. The heavy impact pushed Carter forward and for a moment the belt took his breath as it tightened. There were three more cars crashing into each other, but none of the drivers got badly injured. Within ten seconds one of the main streets was blocked by a long row of cars; some of the drivers that were too far away to be able to see what had happened in front of them hooting wildly. 

It took Carter only a second to get out of his car and walk towards the blue Toyota behind him. It didn't count that apparently he himself had been the one who caused the collision; the only thing he knew was that some stupid asshole behind him had better not left his bed this morning. Braking unexpectedly was one thing, crashing into a car another, but crashing into _his car was everybody's worst nightmare and he would make sure that it remained that way. The Toyota seemed to be somewhat familiar to him, which didn't stop him from his intention. _

"YOU'RE DEAD!!" he yelled at the brown-haired man who had just gotten out. He only realized who it was as he pushed him against the car door. And the recognition didn't soothe his anger, quite the reverse. "FUCK YOU, WAGGNER!!" Carter might be an asshole but he wasn't dim and so it didn't take him long to understand what was going on. "WHO SENT YOU??" he spat. "Lemme guess, it was Clear! Of course! Was it _fun_ to follow me?? Fucking nearly _killing_ me??" 

He felt a hand on his shoulder as someone tried to pull him away from Tod. 

"Take it off of me or I'm gonna rip it out!" Carter said, his voice suddenly low, which was a bad sign as Tod could tell from many painful meetings he had had with him in the past. Tod wondered what made people believe they couldn't win against Carter Horton, what made him so damn terrifying. Instantly the hand disappeared. 

"Oh my God!" he heard a voice behind him, but he wasn't interested in turning around to see what the owner of the voice, a woman in her mid fifties, meant. He saw Tod's pupils dilating as he devoted his attention back to him. That boy's face would be a welcome way to ease the strain he had felt the whole morning through. Tod's eyes widened in disbelief and only now Carter realized that he looked directly past him. 

"Oh my God, look at what you've done, if you hadn't suddenly stopped then - OH MY GOD!" This time it was a man's voice that tried to distract him from his potential punching ball. Tod's lips mouthed a word, but since Carter had never had much interest in improving his abilities in lip-reading, he thought it to be a 'please', directed towards someone who should help him. 

"Oh my God, _fucking bullshit!" a third voice said. "Holy shit, Carter Horton, is that _you_?" _

The mention of his name made him frown. Above the traffic noise the voice didn't sound familiar. He fully turned around to face the man behind him, who was picking up something dirty-red and torn from the asphalt. At first he caught sight of a mop of curly blonde hair, then a pair of brown eyes staring at him, completely surprised. Carter was left speechless. 

The blond was the first one to regain his voice. "I never thought I'd ever say that, Horton", he began, giving a short uncertain laugh, "but I guess you just saved my life."

_*Yeah well, who is it? Not hard to guess, is it? lol Song line taken from Marilyn Manson: _This is The New Shit_, 'The Golden Age Of Grotesque'_, cyal, ^ . ^*     __


	8. Chapter 7

_*Again big thanx to my only reviewer left, lol Blind fold and toe wedges? Definitely, lol Dunno the song melody as well: hehe just saw the title and checked the text. Find out about the blonde mop, hehe I thought it was so obvious after all of my telltale babbling about – but see urself ;o)*_

Chapter 7

Carter stared at Alex. 

Alex stared at Tod. 

Tod tried to evade eye contact with Clear for he had destroyed her car. 

Carter didn't care that Clear stared at him, making him responsible for it, but being happy that it had been the reason that somebody's life had been saved. All of them directed their eyes towards that person. 

"I still can't believe it", Tod finally broke the silence. "This is so weird."

"You just restarted to spend more time with Alex, so what did you expect?" Carter replied as if the conclusion was that obvious. "He's the king of all weirdoes!" 

Alex groaned deeply unnerved and looked heavenwards. The five of them were sitting in a small café, a beautiful comfortable place and he surely would have noticed that the owners had tried to copy the Central Perk out of the Friends series if his mind hadn't already been busy with thousands of thoughts.

"Aw sorry, I was going to say the god. Forgive me." Carter gave him a fake smile before he turned to the fifth person that had remained silent up to now. "Billy Hitchcock, I can't believe it. I never thought you'd make it that far. I supposed you would break your neck while walking downstairs or stuff."

Tod swallowed his coffee the wrong way and coughed. "Carter!" 

"What?! I only say the truth!" He shook his head. "No!"

"Huh? What no?" Tod asked confused, but Carter didn't answer him, his Death Scowl already focused on Alex, who didn't really care after all the time he knew him. 

"Forget it, Browning! I hate that expression on your face! Get it off!"

"I was just wondering why …. don't you think it's strange? First we met Tod. And then out of nowhere there is Billy. Suddenly, after all of these years he suddenly appears just to get nearly knocked over by your car."

Billy shrugged. "History's only repeating itself." In the past it had been one of Carter's endless numbers of strange favourite habits to pretend he was trying to run him over with his infernal bat mobile, as Billy had named it. It had given him more than ninety almost heart attacks, several injuries as he tried to escape and had cost him about five bicycles Carter's car had squashed instead. The memories were still alive in his head, though he hadn't met any of these guys since graduation day. Like Tod he had missed the flight to Paris, though not on health grounds. Billy had won a scholarship to a college in France, so instead of flying to Paris without any of his friends, doomed to be Carter's whipping boy, he had decided to pay his new place of learning a visit. 

"You make fun of me?" Even after more than ten years the words and the angry voice still didn't miss their target. It was a bit like the Pawlow Dog method. Instantly Billy raised his hands in a gesture of defence. "No, of course not."

"It seems as if Death somehow seemed to …." Alex searched for the right words.

"- to kill the actual 180 survivors?" Clear helped him.

"I wasn't on flight 180", Tod and Billy said in unison. 

"No, but maybe you should have been."

"Hold on man, you said that it never went for me for I was never meant to be on that flight. Cuz I had to become ill. For that was the original plan. Fate. You remember?" Tod raised his eyebrows, appearing like a dog that expected that some of his master's ham sandwich would fall down by chance, right into his mouth. 

I never said I was right. It just seemed plausible since nothing dangerous ever happened to you. Besides the tube thing." 

"Aw, so it's the tube thing now", Tod repeated sarcastically, then shook his head as he saw the exhausted look on his friend's face. "Sorry." Man he had to pay attention to not steal Carter's place. 

"So: explanation please", Billy required. 

Alex stared onto a point somewhere on the table, his eyes concentrating on a splodge of coffee. It was dark, almost like dried blood, in the shape of a – Alex looked up to get rid of the imagination that appeared in his mind, straight into a pair of well known blue eyes. They were cold as usual, but there was something else Alex couldn't exactly define. For the second time within a few days Carter interrupted the eye contact first. Alex frowned. What was all this? Slightly clearing his throat, Billy reminded him of his question. 

"What do you want to know? "

Billy gulped. "Will …. will I die?" He tried to fix his eyes on Alex', but more looked onto his jacket. 

"Yes."

He was surprised by the direct answer, though he had reckoned on it. He might be a coward, but he wasn't stupid. Suppressing a deep sigh he asked: "When?"

Alex shrugged. "In the end."

Billy narrowed his eyes. "Are you kidding me?"

Alex shook his head. "No kidding. That's it – in the end we will die. All of us. Without exception. It's up to you what you do in the meantime. Whether you want to wait for it to happen or fight it and try to stay alive. It won't be easy, not at all. It's no fair fight, we're not its equal. People that don't seem to have anything to do with it or you will die when it should have been you. But they're not dying for you, they're not taking your place and all of it will be suddenly over like a horrible nightmare. It's never over, this we know for sure. You don't know when it starts, you don't know when it ends. That's it. Wanna join us?"

Four people stared at him, mouth open. 

"What?" He shrugged and turned to Clear. "Did I forget anything?"

A bit confused she shook her head. "No – I guess that was basically it." 

"So", he continued, ignoring the looks the others gave him for he sounded like a host that had just explained the rules for water volleyball. A game with high stakes of course. "Do you have any questions?"

'What can we do?' was what Billy wanted to know but he felt a bit dim asking that question, for it sounded so simple. But actually things were simple. An attack caused defence. A fight resulted in winners or losers. It surely wouldn't end in a tie. Or had that already happened as it ended the last two times? He shook his head to get his thoughts into order. 

"Don't think too much about it, it only drives you mad", Alex said though he knew it was futile. Billy would surely spend the next few months with a constant headache for his thoughts would run wild in his mind, keeping him awake at night, distracting him from everyday life during the day. He would look for signs everywhere, not finding them, but interpreting and analyzing everything round him just in case it could mean something. If he survived that long. 

"And what does that mean? Do we have to stay together all of the time like Clear said you did the first time? To make sure th-"

"Hell NO!" Carter cried. "I already told you I will call you up if I have one of them fucking head aching premonitions! And as now everything is said, excuse me but I leave you freaks. I have a life out there." 

"But – " Billy began, but Alex interrupted him. 

"I propose you go with Clear and Tod. They will tell you everything you have to know. - Hey, I'm coming with you", he shouted after Carter. 

"What for?? I thought we just straightened that out that I will call you if –"

"Uhm hello? You fucking gonna drive me to work!"

"Why the hell should I??" Carter flared up.

Alex folded his arms and grimaced. "You remember that car you just destroyed a few hours ago?"

Carter smirked. "That was Clear's, stupid. Your fiancée, remember?"

Alex rolled his eyes at his friend's stubbornness and let out an exaggerated sigh. "Yeah, so she can have mine to drive home and therefore you will drive me to work, geddit?" He bent down to kiss her goodbye, whispering something in her ear that made her giggle.

"What?? What have you said?? What??" Carter fumed, yelling at Alex the entire way to the parking lot. Alex waited until they were out of the other's sight and then turned to face Carter. "Okay, since you're so talkative today, why don't you tell me?" They seemed to make a habit of that; talking in plain English at the parking lot.

The jock frowned. "Tell you what?" 

Alex leant against the side door of Carter's car, resting his elbows on the roof. "Stop playing games, okay? What is it you didn't want to talk about back in the café? Back in the parking lot at the hospital? Carter", he continued as his friend didn't make a move to answer. "You know how important this is; I don't have to make it clear to you. So if there's anything - as little and unimportant as it may seem …." 

"What do you want to hear?" Carter snapped. "That it was my fault what happened? Congratulations, you won the washing machine; it was my fault!"

Alex narrowed his eyes, trying to find the meaning of what he had just heard. "What was your fault? Carter, that fucking premonition stuff doesn't mean that you-"

"Tod! What happened to him was my fault. That he nearly died. I could of averted it, but I didn't!" Carter never would have thought that telling the truth could be somewhat releasing. 

Alex stared at him. Surely Carter was the biggest asshole he had ever met, but he didn't believe one second that he intentionally failed to give assistance. "There was a sign you didn't see. So what?"

Now it was the dark haired's turn to be left mouth open. "So what?? Alex, he nearly died!" 

"That's what it's all about, to kill us! What happened? You saw the sign, didn't notice it was one, then the thing with Tod happened and you didn't dare to tell us afterwards, but out of some reason you did now. Carter, these things happen. Shit happens. You haven't been asking for them premonitions neither have I and surely none of us has ever asked for the whole shit! My God, relax and try to be more observant next time."

"Couldn't you just yell at me, punch me in the face so I could beat you up and everything was alright?"

"It would be quite boring if there were two Carter Hortons, wouldn't it?" Alex grinned, reached for the handle and opened the door but realized that Carter still stared at him. "Okay, you saw the accident with Billy as well? Forget it, what's over is over. We have no time to deal with the past since worrying about the present takes so -"

"I saw Bludworth."

Alex nearly caught his hand in the door as he slammed it. "WHAT??"

"See, it's not so easily fucking over and done with", Carter yelled, automatically taking the offensive though it was him who had done wrong. But Alex wasn't willing to go into that. "You sure?"

"You think I'd ever forget that fucking face?" He had only met that guy once, but his features had made an impression on his mind forever. There wasn't much that could scare Carter but the mere thought of this man sent a shiver down his spine. 

"When and where?"

"The evening Tod was in the hospital and I drove back to my firm. I nearly knocked him over with my car."

Alex smirked and even Carter's famous look didn't shut him up. "Seems as if you were bloody talented for that." 

"So what do we do now? Can you find out where he is? I mean, using your FBI sources?" Carter still couldn't believe Alex' reaction to his confessions. This had been a bit too easy.

"What do you think I been doing during the last years, huh?" He opened the door again and let himself fall into his seat, listening to Carter teasing him who had just remembered that a few years ago someone had hidden things as well ….

~°~.~°~.~°~.~°~.~°~.~°~.~°~.~°~.

Carter couldn't get rid of the song he had heard in the morning. Especially one line kept spinning round in his brain. _Everything's been said before, there's nothing left to say anymore ... stand up and admit it, tomorrow's never coming. He was sitting in his huge office, trying to concentrate on the file that lay open before him, but the line kept spinning round in his head like a record. Was that a sign? No, it certainly wasn't. Only a sign that he was slightly going mad maybe. He wished that he knew what the design was about this time, but as hard as he tried to find out he discarded every idea the next moment. Clicking at one of the icons on his computer he went back to the game he had just started to play. It was on an Italian website, him and Italian – that was the biggest joke ever. Carter had never been very talented with languages. Why the hell should he learn another language when half of the world population spoke his own? Though he sometimes only got one word of the question for it was similar to the English equivalent he was quite good at the principle of exclusion, an ability that had allowed him to pass the French exam and be able to take flight 180 just to ruin his entire life. What made things easier in this game was the fact that he was allowed to repeat it several times and so he reached the highest score after fifteen minutes. Great, now he was able to survive in a hole for a week or so. He skipped adding his name to the winner list and was just about to leave the site when something caught his eye. There were ten names on the list, names of people he never had met or heard about, but he was sure that the first name hadn't been there a few seconds ago. He leant forward, but there was no doubt. The first name was: Carter. _

He frowned. He hadn't typed his name, so why was it there? Combined with the song line in his head this was going to be quite freaky. On the left side were the names of the winners, on the right side the score – 400 points was the highest possible. But above the long row of 400s the first number was 403, which was absolutely impossible. But it stood there, definitely. A blue 403 on a black background. Okay that surely meant he was next. Carter looked around and checked the room for any visible hazards, stopping to count them when he reached the 32. Basically everything was dangerous: the pencil as much as the cables or the screen. Maybe he would trip over something and fall out of the window. Suddenly his mouth and throat felt dry. He felt his heartbeat quicken, but tried to ignore the upcoming panic. It was just like that Stephen King book he had read when he was a child. It was useless to be afraid of something that could simply be everywhere. Carter knew how illogical it sounded, but for him it made sense. Damn, he definitely spent too much time with that Browning guy. Alex. Should he call him up? What for? 'Hello Alex, by the way it's my turn now?' Naw, that was stupid. How far or close Alex might be – he wouldn't be able to do anything. It was his turn so he had to try and cheat Death again. Alone. 

~°~.~°~.~°~.~°~.~°~.~°~.~°~.~°~.

Alex slammed the door to his office, the crash echoing down the long corridor. Could his life become any worse? Well, he thought that no, but hey – faith was so imaginative it always invented new ways to torture him. He had only reached his seat and let himself fall into it, as someone knocked at the door, opening it a second later.

"I cannot remember having said 'come in'!"

Nevertheless Agent Schreck entered the room suppressing a grin. 

"I really mean it, Roger, stay out!"

The elder agent raised his hands in a gesture of defence. "Aw c'mon Alex, it isn't my fault. I been talking till I was blue in the face, but an order is an order."

"Fuck your orders!" 

Roger closed the door and leant against the wall behind him. "So what do you want to do? Quit?"

Alex pretended to honestly take the option into consideration, causing his colleague to laugh. 

"You wouldn't do that. Never", he maintained.

"Whatever you say", the young man murmured. His work got him good money, facilitating an agreeable life style. Most of the times. But after all it was just a job, he wasn't really into it like his colleagues, never made a big effort to get it like some of them whose dream it had been since they first had heard the three famous letters. Like that one guy they had made his new partner. Alex didn't like him at all, he never had and certainly the feeling was mutual. 

"C'mon Alex, he's not such a bad guy – you see if you know him a bit better, then –"

"Have you ever listened to a single word I said?" he flared up. "Roger, there is a reason why I'm working alone, okay? You remember? It's sometimes a _tiny lil bit_ dangerous to be near me. And just _right now_ – whoa, what a _perfect _timing!"

"But I thought it only would be dangerous for people who were already part of that design …."

"_What_ design?" 

Schreck was confused. "The _design_."

"What the hell do we know what it is about this time?" He shrugged, snorting scornfully, knowing that he somewhat acted like a stubborn little boy, but couldn't soothe his anger. 

A knock on the door interrupted them. Alex made no secret of his displeasure at the situation as a young man entered the room. He was two years older than himself, nearly the same height, with dark brown hair and eyes of the same colour. Alex could tell by the look on his face that he neither appreciated the new collaboration. 

"Browning", he greeted shortly.

Instead of an answer Alex mumbled something inaudible, cursing Schreck who didn't manage very well to hide his grin as he left. Maybe he was right and he just worried too much – no one told him that that guy really was endangered. Which was the point – he didn't know. Alex shrugged and took the file the agent handed to him. He could still quit. Schreck might not believe it and think that he had interest in his job and big ambitions in that direction. 

They didn't know how little he cared. 

And he was sick of knowing that he still did too much. 

~°~.~°~.~°~.~°~.~°~.~°~.~°~.~°~.

Carter went into the bathroom and closed the door behind him. The thought of what had happened to Tod came to his mind and he eyed the shower suspiciously as if expecting that the tube would become a serpent and try to attack him. At first he had appreciated the fact that his huge office included a little bathroom though he never made use of the shower – what did he have one at home for? It was more the aspect of possession that made him want to have it and so the room wasn't fit out cheap. But at the very moment he wasn't so happy about the shower anymore and so kept the biggest distance between him and it possible. He propped his hands up on the washbasin and looked at his own reflection in the mirror. Would he die within the next seconds? Within the next minutes? Hours? Would someone be there to save him if? How would it happen? And first of all would he be able to make it one more time? He wondered if it was going to be over for the rest of them when he died like the curse had left them when Alex died the last time. Before the medics had been able to bring him back to life again. 

However, he wouldn't be defeated. Not him, not now – after all he still decided what to do with his life. As well as with his death. For now he decided to go back into his office, making some more of the calls he had to and then leave. Outside was as dangerous as inside. 

The door slammed hard behind him as he left, stopping when he realized that he wasn't alone. Nora, secretary, waitress and part time lover, sat on one of the chairs in front of his desk, cross-legged, waiting for him and frowning as she watched him enter. "I thought you weren't even in the office", she remarked. 

"I wasn't", he gave back, smirking. "And I thought _you_ were already gone …."

"Yeah well I'm not." Her voice sounded a bit annoyed. "Plans changed so I thought I could work some files off and take my anger out on the keyboard." Carter groaned inside. 'Plans changed' meant that her boyfriend had stood her up again. He was an unbelievable asshole. Carter didn't understand why she didn't get rid of him. She was the type of woman who could simply have anybody. But the last thing he wanted to do now was discuss the problems of her love life. 

"So you could take it out on the phone as well – there are some great people you can yell at if you want to."

Nora held her breath as if she wanted to say something but then nodded. She was used to meet only the wrong kind of men, including her boss. 

"I'm sorry bout Steven and you". Carter said, trying to sound honest as he reached for his lap top.

The secretary raised an eyebrow. "I bet you do", she answered, not convinced. "So be cautious on the streets," she called after him as he opened the door, causing him stop, not quite sure whether he had got her right. She had never said anything like that to him before. 

"Are you afraid something could happen to me?" he wanted to know, the inevitable smirk on his lips, hiding his astonishment and concern about her remark perfectly. 

"Actually I'm more afraid of what you could make happen to the rest of the road users," she said, folding her arms, making him laugh as she tried to withstand his look before he left the room. 

Nora stood up and was about to take some files out of one of the bookcases as something caught her eye. She turned around to see the light in the bathroom was still on through the ajar door. Typical Carter. She opened it for the switch was on the inside when she noticed something lying on the tray that was attached to the wall above the washbasin. Getting closer to the object she saw that it was a single key. Carter's car key. Forgetting them was even more typical for him, a fact that had made him put an extra key into his desk. Strange to find it here. For a short moment she thought about calling him on his cell, but then didn't. If Carter needed it he should come back and get it himself. Damn men. Following a sudden outburst of rage Nora slammed her fist on the desk, causing it to fall down and break into pieces. She cursed and bent down to collect the biggest fragments from the ground as she heard another crack above her. She looked up just in time to see the big mirror fall down from his support, directly towards her. Her eyes widened in shock and she tried to get herself out of the danger zone but her shoes slipped on the tiles and she fell backwards. Part of the mirror broke as it hit the washbasin. It happened so fast that Nora couldn't hardly feel the pain as the sharp side crashed down on her and slit her throat. Blood was running out immediately, covering her shirt. She wanted to scream but only a gurgling sound left her mouth that was filled with blood as well. She got panicky as she tried to stop the bleeding with her hands but couldn't. The red liquid seemed to be all over her, all around her. With a great effort she finally managed to stand up focussing her thoughts on getting out of the door and get help, knowing that every little second counted, every little moment brought her closer to death. 

"Nora?" she heard a voice from outside as the door to the office was opened. 

Carter, thank God, he would help her. Nora moved towards the door, the short way seeming to have become so much longer as she felt her powers fade, the quick loss of blood dizzying her. No, she wasn't allowed to give up now that help was so near. Only a few more centimetres and she would be saved. Only a few more – 

She stepped into a puddle of her own blood and slipped. Her hands tried to grab hold of the rim of the basin to not to lose her footing, but failed. 

"Nora? Where the hell are you?" 

Her head banged against the hard ceramic of the basin and lifeless body fell down to the ground. 

_*Again big thanx to my reviewers!! SCRIBBLEDIBBLE: Hooray back!! lol and KINGS (hope that's alright :o) : My God, u really wanna beat me, huh? Never got such a long review before, lol So yeah, it's Billy - n I thought u'd only have a bored yawn for that revelation, lol (I goddit, lol) Alfie?? Well, that's quite the same, huh? ^ . ° No, no more 45 year old Carter twins (geddit?), lol_

_Use of the term 'The Death Scowl' by kind permission of DHARKE PRODUCTIONS.__ If anyone's interested in the game Carter's playing: it's at www.thehole.it*_

_*Author's Note:_

_I added some more to my last chapter for I thought that it belonged there and not to a new one. I hope that there is no big misunderstanding and I will try to get my stuff into order okay? Sorry that it always takes me so long to update but I'm a bit running out of ideas at the moment. I mean, I know where the plot is leading to, but the way to my aim's the problem, lol*_


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